Wi-Fi is going to be replaced eventually, and many people expected 5G to be the technology that finally does so, but it looks like Li-Fi might have a shot at replacing Wi-Fi as well. As the name implies, Li-Fi uses light to transmit data, rather than the radio waves that Wi-Fi uses, and initial tests have shown that not only is the technology about 100 times faster than Wi-Fi, it’s also more secure. However, the creators of Li-Fi believe that, should the technology be adopted, it would most likely work alongside Wi-Fi, rather than replace it entirely.
Expect to hear a whole lot more about Li-Fi – a wireless technology that transmits high-speed data using visible light communication (VLC) – in the coming months. With scientists achieving speeds of 224 gigabits per second in the lab using Li-Fi earlier this year, the potential for this technology to change everything about the way we use the Internet is huge. And now, scientists have taken Li-Fi out of the lab for the first time, trialling it in offices and industrial environments in Tallinn, Estonia, reporting that they can achieve data transmission at 1 GB per second – that’s 100 times faster than current average Wi-Fi speeds. “We are doing a few pilot projects within different industries where we can utilise the VLC (visible light communication) technology,” Deepak Solanki, CEO of Estonian tech company, Velmenni, told IBTimes UK. “Currently we have designed a smart lighting solution for an industrial environment where the data communication is done through light. We are also doing a pilot project with a private client where we are setting up a Li-Fi network to access the Internet in their office space.”
